The Prestige
by Christopher Priest
|
|
Sign in to Goodreads to see your friends' reviews of The Prestige.
discuss this book
friend reviews (0)
To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.
other reviews (showing 1-20 of 983)
Read in December, 2007
Like many readers, I came to this book after seeing the excellent 2006 film based on it. Like many other readers, I ended up preferring the film to the book as the film is a lot more tightly woven and provides better motivations for the characters' actions.
The story, for those of you who don't know, centres on two Victorian magicians who strike up a feud and spend the next twenty years sabotaging each other's shows and trying to outperform each other, each coming up with a spectacular disapp...more
The story, for those of you who don't know, centres on two Victorian magicians who strike up a feud and spend the next twenty years sabotaging each other's shows and trying to outperform each other, each coming up with a spectacular disapp...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in September, 2007
recommends it for:
people interested in magic or fans of the movie
SOMEONE IS BORROWING ME
"There is a kind of madness where delusion replaces reality, and many a kind of madness where delusions replaces reality, and many times such a malaise seemed to explain everything."
The Prestige is the story of two dueling magicians, Rupert Angier and Alfred Borden, living in Europe at the turn of the Twentieth Century. In a rather creative approach, the narrative is delivered through three different first person narratives. One narrative, told fr...more
"There is a kind of madness where delusion replaces reality, and many a kind of madness where delusions replaces reality, and many times such a malaise seemed to explain everything."
The Prestige is the story of two dueling magicians, Rupert Angier and Alfred Borden, living in Europe at the turn of the Twentieth Century. In a rather creative approach, the narrative is delivered through three different first person narratives. One narrative, told fr...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in June, 2007
Reading fiction involves a measure of belief-suspension, which I am more than willing to give - I would usually rather read something fictional than something factual. However, I don't much go in for mysteries, or fantasies, or science fiction or anything like that - in fact I have a pretty strong reaction to it and I'm not sure why. All I know is that it just makes me annoyed, like when Emily and Devon were having a discussion once about where they will go once time travel is invented and I h...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in June, 2007
Okay, I just finished today. Man. Well, the book is quite something- it is essentially told from four different points of view: Alfred Borden's, Rupert Angier's, Andrew Westley's (formerly Nikolas Borden, great-grandson of Alfred Borden), and Kate Angier's (great-granddaughter of Rupert Angier). For those of you who are not familiar with the story, it is essentially about a lifelong rivalry between two great magicians in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and their descendants trying to ...more
Like this review?
yes
3 comments
Read in December, 2007
The Prestige by Christopher Priest is book about two battling magicians, who started off working together. It starts off, when Andrew Westley, real name. Andrew Borden was sent a note book, about his family. It tells, about secrets to all kinds of tricks. The book, is confusing, because it is not in a structured order, it goes from Andrew telling about him, to reading the journal, then back to his life, and then starts off at the part they already read. Andrew feels that he has a twin, but does ...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in February, 2008
recommends it for:
anyone who likes fantasy, history, and suspense
A fabulous, engaging read that is absolutely deserving of the accolades it's earned. I read the book after seeing the movie, which is actually the order I recommend; while both are excellent--the film was the perfect way to tell the story as a film while the book was the perfect way to tell the story as a novel, IMO--I think the differences between the two were much less jarring the way I did it than they would have been had I read the book first. Because they did have to make some significant c...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in September, 2007
recommends it for:
people that liked the movie
This is one of those rare cases where the movie was so much better than the book. The Prestige was an enjoyable read but seemed to be missing that 'magically' feel that the film pulled off so well. The author even tried to sculpt the narrative in such a way as to hint at a prestige of his own but never does pull it off in the same way that the film did. Strangely (or unnecessarily), the book is a lot grander in scope, it is bookended by the present day, centering on the descents of the tw...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in November, 2006
This is the only book I can think of that I liked less than the movie. Much less.
I genuinely liked the plot, but the execution made such a lopsided, wandering mess of the story that it had no tension, no drama and no payoff. There were moments that kept me interested, but they were too few and far between. Upon finishing, it actually made me much less excited to see the film.
So when it finally came to DVD, I expected to be let down. But it was great! The movie boiled the characte...more
I genuinely liked the plot, but the execution made such a lopsided, wandering mess of the story that it had no tension, no drama and no payoff. There were moments that kept me interested, but they were too few and far between. Upon finishing, it actually made me much less excited to see the film.
So when it finally came to DVD, I expected to be let down. But it was great! The movie boiled the characte...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in October, 2007
recommends it for:
anyone who enjoys mysteries with a touch of magic, science fiction, and bit of soft horror too.
A suspenseful and gripping story, Christopher Priest demonstrates his storytelling skill in this compelling tale of two turn-of-the-century competing British stage magicians and their feud that trickles down through their descendants. A present day young man unexepctedly finds out that he is a descendant of one of the magicians, and the reader follows his journey of reading their old diaries, learning of their lives, secrets, the feud, and how it so directly affects him (the present day young ma...more
Like this review?
yes
(1 person liked it)
add a comment
Basically, I ran out and picked this book up as quickly as I could after watching the excellent film by Christopher Nolan. Of course, having seen the film spoiled the ending for me a bit, although knowing the ending allowed me to enjoy the ride for what it was, rather than trying to figure out what the secret of the film was.[return]The basic plot: two Victorian-era magicians from differing backgrounds feud, and become obsessed with being better than each other, regardless of the personal cost....more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Has a copy to sell/swap
—
Read in December, 2007
I read this book after having seen the movie. I was startled to find how different the book is from the plot of the movie...to the point where I wondered how they even developed the movie at all.
I wasn't quite sure whether to rate the book 3 or 4 stars. I'd say I give it a firm 3.5 stars, but am rounding up to 4.
(the rest of this might be spoiler-ish)
I liked how the book involved multiple generations and told the story from multiple viewpoints, but found it to be a little confu...more
I wasn't quite sure whether to rate the book 3 or 4 stars. I'd say I give it a firm 3.5 stars, but am rounding up to 4.
(the rest of this might be spoiler-ish)
I liked how the book involved multiple generations and told the story from multiple viewpoints, but found it to be a little confu...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in April, 2007
recommends it for:
Anyone looking for something interesting
You know the kind of book that starts out very wordy and slow, and then *boom* you get a scene that makes you want to read the rest of it right now, just to find out what happens? This is that kind of book.
The setting is in present day, with descendants of two famous magicians trying to figure out what happened to their great-grandfathers. They do this by reading the journals/books of their forefathers. What they find out will really amaze you.
This book will keep you guessing, and onc...more
The setting is in present day, with descendants of two famous magicians trying to figure out what happened to their great-grandfathers. They do this by reading the journals/books of their forefathers. What they find out will really amaze you.
This book will keep you guessing, and onc...more
Like this review?
yes
(1 person liked it)
add a comment
Read in October, 2007
This is a situation where I saw the movie first, and then read the book. The two are quite different in a lot of aspects. The similarities are: two rival magicians, one has a transported man act that the other wants to discover the secret to, the other has a transported man act rooted in science instead of illusion. But that's about where the similarities stop. It was very interesting to experience the two so close to each other, while the movie was still so fresh in my mind. The book tell...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in April, 2008
recommends it for:
fans of mysteries, psychological thrillers and philosophical fiction
Since I enjoy mixed or cross-genre literature (and music) I found this novel quite intriguing. I quite literally had difficulty putting it down. It combines elements mystery, fantasy, science fiction and psychological thriller. The use of multiple points of view led me to consider the subjective view of reality every person holds and how the same events can be construed quite differently. Another theme is misunderstanding, anger and the irrational urge for revenge for perceived disrespect or ot...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
This was a really good book. Mostly a story for sheer entertainment, Priest's characters are real and they have depth which lends them to the literary and gives the book weight, allowing it to say something about it's characters and the human condition. I would suggest not bothering to watch the movie, but if you do, watch it after you read the book. The movie strays from the book and changes some of the story's basic foundations and facts. The events that begin the movie are different from the ...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in January, 2007
recommends it for:
everyone
The Prestige is a strange book. Half of it is written from one point of view, and half is written from another. The two narrators are both magicians, each trying to outdo the other. Breaking up the two narratives, and framing them, there is a story of two contemporary scions of each magician.
It's an interesting stylistic choice, and it works incredibly well right up until the end. Priest juggles the two storylines gracefully, weaving a mystery that holds the attention but gives very...more
It's an interesting stylistic choice, and it works incredibly well right up until the end. Priest juggles the two storylines gracefully, weaving a mystery that holds the attention but gives very...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
I wanted to read this book after I saw the movie to help me with the finer points of the illusions each magician was performing. It had been a while since I saw the movie when I got to the book though and there were still bits from it I was expecting that never came... then I realized that the movie plot is *significantly* different from the book, and that's why these elements aren't there. However, the book is excellent - I almost enjoyed it more than the movie. I mixes the old feud with som...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in February, 2008
There are some things that the movie (starring Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale - man-candy galore!) does better, and some things the book does better; they were actually quite complementary experiences and I'm glad I saw/read them both. The book suffers from the same major problem as the movie, namely, The Machine. It really goes off the rails once The Machine is introduced, and the most annoying thing is that I think there's a way to tell the story without it.
The book comprises the journa...more
The book comprises the journa...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in April, 2007
recommends it for:
People who are interested in stage magic, or who really enjoyed the movie and want to know more.
Alright. At some point, someone read this book. Maybe a few years later, they decided to make a movie based on the vague recollections they had of if. It takes place in the late 1800s. The main characters' names are Borden and Angier, and they are conflicting illusionists. But that's where the similarities end. That doesn't, however, mean that the Prestige isn't a good book, it's just different. There's more of a gray scale than in the movie; both characters are less good and less bed. W...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in August, 2007
recommends it for:
Nobody...watch the movie!
This is usually NEVER the case, but I love the movie much, much better than the book! There were a lot of pretty major changes made to the plot when the book was adapted to movie form...and the changes were actually for the better! I found the book to be pretty boring, with an abrupt, spooky, Gothic ending that was TOTALLY out of place with the rest of the book. The only thing this book really served to do was to increase my admiration for the movie's director/producer that they were able to ...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
